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The Yankees got better again

Some free agent dominoes fell over the weekend, as Lance Lynn inked a one-year deal with the Minnesota Twins and Jake Arrieta got a three-year deal with the Phillies. Then, this morning, the Yankees dipped into the bargain bin and signed Neil Walker to a cheap-as-dirt contract.

The Yankees, they continue to get better. It’s not good.

I mean, this contract to Walker — an infielder who was worth 2.1 wins last year between Milwaukee and the Mets and has consistently hit for power over his career — isn’t the backbreaker deal that suddenly made the Yankees terrifyingly good or anything.

It’s just funny that there’s a free agent market in 2018 that has thoroughly solid players like Walker available for $5 million and, rather than low-budget teams scooping them up, it’s the Yankees getting a pretty nice upgrade on their already-good roster for the same price they re-signed Chris Capuano for three years ago.

The Yankees lineup will now look something like… Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Didi Gregorious, Aaron Hicks, Brandon Drury, Walker. There aren’t many holes in that lineup. The biggest enigma, probably, is Bird because he’s made out of paper mache, but Walker also carries a first baseman’s glove and can serve as depth at that position.

I don’t think there was really a spot for Walker on the Blue Jays given the acquisitions of Yangervis Solarte and Aledmys Diaz this winter, but I just wanted to come complain about the Yankees getting better again. Good fucking lord, that, like, three-year span when they weren’t very good was super fun.

But hey, maybe Aaron Judge’s rookie season was a fluke and maybe Giancarlo Stanton either mentally cracks under the pressure of playing in front of more like 37 fans for the first time in his career or cracks physically like he has in the past. Guh.

1 Comment |

Paper projections crash and burn like paper airplanes: One of the Skanks or massholes will perform well under expectations this year. As always, health is going to be the critical variable and if the baseball gods roll us a Yahtzee on that front I like our chances at making the postseason. Kind of fun entering the season as a clear “underdog” with a team that has this kind of talent/potential. Get ’em!